by Robin Shobbrook; 23 November 2011
Many see the recent announcement from Adobe that they are laying off 750 full-time employees and halting further development of Flash, at least in respect of its use on mobile devices, as signalling the end of the line for this decade-lasting flagship technology.
However, Adobe appears to be adamant that Flash will continue to lead the way, for the foreseeable future, in the realms of desktop web applications and already claims to be working on a new version: Flash 12. They have also assured users that they will continue to support existing users and provide bug fixes and minor enhancements to the current and forthcoming release. This means that developers will still be able to package Flash based apps with Adobe Air.
In reality, the company has all but conceded that W3C's HTML5 will eventually supplant Flash for deployment of rich content in browsers across all platforms. Adobe have said: "We will continue to leverage our experience with Flash to accelerate our work with W3C and WebKit to bring similar capabilities (similar to Flash) to HTML as quickly as possible".
Comments on forums and blogs indicate a rather than less enthusiastic reception to all this news. It's claimed that HTML5 is not yet robust or well enough featured to provide a comparable viewer experience. Others say that the Flash authoring interface has proved to be well adapted to the skill sets of 'creative' people, whilst HTML5 is more suitable for 'coders' - so creative people will not be able to, or will not be able to justify the time to, produce such high quality work. It is even suggested that, if Adobe are 'abandoning' Flash, they should "consider opensourcing Flash mobile, allowing the independent developer to iron out its quirks ... to deliver premium content to mobile".
Adobe do seem to have put themselves out on a limb over this and there will be no going back. Eventually, probably in the next 12 months or so, HTML5 development will start to overtake Flash. Developments will be made, by Adobe if they are quick off the mark, by others if Adobe are not so, to deliver HTML5 authoring tools which will make it possible to build and deploy rich content without worrying about the underlying 'technical stuff'. "The end of the line for Flash?" Not quite yet but it's beginning to run out of stops!
by Ross McPhee; 28 September 2011
The recent AIXM, WXXM and FIXM conference in Washington was well worth the effort and expense of attending. It was a fascinating three days that included some excellent presentations, one highly infectious meme and a palpable sense of closure.
The most successful meme to emerge from this year’s conference is undoubtedly the three witches incanting “Axe’em, wicks’em and fix-‘em,” as they stir aeronautical information into their potent potion of “Powerful Information.” Expect to see this image reproduced whenever AIS staff are gathered together, it’s irresistible.
I guess that also settles the issue of how to pronounce AIXM.
The development of AIXM is, as far as the conference was concerned, well and truly over. There were mutterings of a bug release version 5.1.1 (to fix the 13 bugs, mostly spelling mistakes, known of in AIXM) but 5.2 wasn’t so much kicked into the long grass as fired into a high orbit. If we ever need it, it’ll be there, but meanwhile no one gives it a second thought.
This means that Eurocontrol’s Eddy Porosnicu has set the bar for development of an OGC based aeronautical information standard – 13 years. This is a record that the developers of WXXM and FIXM have pledged themselves to beat. Most likely it’s not meant to, but the repeated commitments to delivery of WXXM (2.0) and FIXM (1.0) in 5 and 3 years respectively sounded a little disingenuous, almost belittling the achievement of Eddy and the AIXM team. It should be remembered that the AIXM team were the trailblazers that not only appreciated the power of GML but also that they added the temporality model (the most complex addition to GML OGS have seen) and embraced customisation with the extension model. Additionally, they didn’t really start messing with GML until 2007 and so a development time of 4 years might be a fairer reflection of their productivity. Come on WXXM, keep up!
This event was my first introduction to the Flight Information Exchange Model (FIXM) project, the most recent –IXM.
Everyone was impressed by the bullish attitude of the FIXM team, apparently guaranteeing FIXM 1.0 in three years or Midori Tanino’s head on a platter! However, Midori herself seemed unfazed and showed us the road map for FIXM development in a smooth presentation that included no less than three good jokes including an ad-lib!
I’m looking forward to version 0.2 (due winter 2011) already.
by Gordon Dennis; 31 May 2011
Perhaps revisonary and indeed reactionary thoughts are inevitable whenever change is mooted . Concerning DITA, there's certainly a lot of ‘motor-boating’ going on (this may be identified simply by its characteristic sound of "but but but .......").
t’s time to reflect for a moment that saying "No" is sometimes the simplest answer – some people actually believe that it’s always the best answer. After all, it absolves you of responsibility and puts off the time when you have to do something - hopefully until such time as someone else must bear responsibility.
On the other hand, saying “No” is also often not the best , most effective, or most efficient way of running things.
More ...
by Gordon Dennis; 23 March 2011
Many people are concerned that although the safety record of the aviation industry worldwide improved through the ‘80s and’90s, the welcome progress flattened out about five years ago. As yet, there is no generally excepted explanation as to why. It may be that many of the really significant improvement ,measures have already been taken – engines are across the board much more reliable for example (notwithstanding the problem suffered by Quantas in late 2010); training standards have improved through the whole spectrum from manufacturing through Flight Ops to MRO.
In terms of aeronautical documentation, ‘Safer’ is particularly related to a tangible benefit of single information sourcing. By using a single source, the information in, for example, a training manual is always consistent with that of an electronic manual displayed on the FEB on the aircraft flight deck.
This is connected to a very important principle called the Law of Primacy, which basically states that it’s very difficult to ‘unlearn’ something. If you read in a training manual that ‘X = this’ when in fact it no longer does, then you have a potential safety issue. For example, if you’ve learned ‘A’ in the training class, but this has been replaced in operations by ‘B’ (because ‘A’ proved to be unsafe), trying to get rid of ‘A’ in the mind of the crew (especially in a stressful emergency situation) and replace it with ‘B’ is physiologically very difficult.
Without single information sourcing, addressing this issue is very expensive and time consuming. With single information sourcing, it’s less expensive, more manageable and much more reliable; in a word, ‘safer’.
by Robin Shobbrook; 01 March 2011
We have recently been conducting testing and research into OCR (Optical Character Recognition), assessing the strengths and weaknesses of various systems.
Our objective was to find the 'best-fit' system and/or procedure to enable one of our customers to convert a variety of disparate paper copies and bitmap images of technical documents into a regulated, structured xml format.
It's proved to be a very revealing excercise - not least because it's pointed out the
difficulty of quantifying quality in what is, essentially, a process of 'interpretation' rather than translation.
Download the White Ppaer ...
by Gordon Dennis; 01 February 2011
The prediction in my last blog that the words ‘mobile’ and ‘tablet’ would become important in 2011 appears to be coming true. Try buying an HP Slate 500. It’s well nigh impossible – HP appear to have sold them all, leading to a temporary shortage of the Slate.
It’s not difficult to see why. The familiar WIMP (Windows, Icons, Mice, Pull-down menus) paradigm has been with us since 1980 when Xerox PARC first demonstrated it. The Apple® Macintosh® the first really successful commercial product, appeared in 1984, while the first successful version of Microsoft® Windows appeared in 1990. You have to be aged at least 31 years to have even been around at the time of the PARC announcement - a very long time in the reputedly fast moving IT world.
It now seems likely that a gesture based interface, on a device weighing much less than todays laptops will displace the existing paradigm. While the Apple® iPad® will undoubtedly be the benchmark for 2011, some big hitters are limbering up to give them a run for their money.
On demand information is no longer the exclusive province of the young. It’s moving fast onto centre stage in industry and commerce. Remember: ‘mobile’ and ‘tablet’.
We launch a complete solution for aeronautical documentation
Our brand new product, Mobile4docs, is designed especially for use on EFBs and other mobile devices and it's ideal for Aircraft Flight Manuals,
Operations Manuals, Minimum Equipment lists – and more.
Koala's Managing Director, Vivienne Willoughby-Ellis said "Aviation people are getting very excited about Mobile4docs. It presents documents in a format optimised for the user and for the mobile device - it's very fast and accessible"
More ...
Is the ATC network is only as strong as the weakest link?
ATC Global INSIGHT Newsletter questions network strategies and air traffic control regulation in the light of the December bad weather and draws some interesting conclusions.
Click here to view their analysis ...
Click here for more ATC news ...
January 2011
Technical Communication UK have released a video of the presentation given by Koala's Gordon Dennis at their September conference. In it, Gordon discusses the new technologies employed by Koala and covers:
Click here to view the full presentation ...
by Gordon Dennis; January 2011
Take the Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM) for the GulfStream IV AFM. This is 4090 pages long – yes, over 4,000 pages. This is not bedtime reading – in fact it’s crying out to be made more accessible - i.e. 'non-linear' access is required, especially if your working environment is the relatively cramped space of an aircraft flight deck. What you don’t want is to be thumbing through 4000+ pages.
Click here for more ...
EASA publishes consolidated Part-145 + AMCsDecember 2010
This will be the second technical publication produced by EASA to meet the needs of its stakeholders in the aviation community. It comprises the implementing rules and the related AMC/GM of Part-145 in a consolidated format. The current version now includes the latest amendments introduced by Reg. EU No 127/2010, ED Decision 2010/002/R, ED Decision 2010/006/R, and Reg. EU No 962/2010.
Click here to view the pdf ...
December 2010
The final build of DITA-OT 1.5.2 is now available for download as the latest Stable Release at SourceForge. This release supports the final DITA 1.2 Specification, which was officially approved as a standard early in December. It contains a large number of fixes an enhancements including:
November 2010
Pilots are perhaps the most frequently re-trained people in any profession, yet accidents are revealing that many flightcrew are missing both basic and advanced skills - for example, the ability to carry out safe stall recovery and go-arounds.
Click here for more ...
Koala delegate attends Digital NOTAM Workshop #6 October 2010
Koala attended the 6th Digital NOTAM workshop entitled "Towards the Initial Operational Capability in 2012" at EUROCONTROL headquarters in Brussels.
The workshop brought together a variety of stakeholder groups involved in the development of the Digital NOTAM concept and in the preparation of the initial operational capability, foreseen for 2012 in both Europe and the United States.
The Digital NOTAM project aims to provide the standards, framework, resources and a substantiated proof-of-concept for the full ECAC-wide implementation of the digital NOTAM concept, necessary to all ATM actors in order to support an accurate and always up-to-date common situational awareness of the aeronautical operations environment. The digital NOTAM concept is an investment in the future, but with immediate practical benefits for the end users. Participation in the event reflected Koala's commitment to close involvment with this initiative from the outset.
Click here for more on Digital NOTAMs ...
We participate in the Aviation and Business Users Seminar held in Sofia, BulgariaOctober 2010
This was a major event, sponsored by Avisa, the Middle East Aviation Consortium and Bulgaria Air, with the aim of bringing together aviation professionals in the area and launching the Eastern European Aviation Consortium.
Gordon Dennis, Commercial Director of Koala, gave a presentation covering formal risk analysis techniques for aviation data and software applications. The presentation also considered ergonomic design for in-cockpit delivery and the need to take human factors and CRM issues into account.
Click here for a copy of Gordon's presentation ...
September 2010
Koala's Gordon Dennis, who spoke at the September 2010 event in Oxfordshire, described the conference as "extremely successful, vibrant and interesting". There was a very high attendance figure for all three days as well as an excellent range of workshops and exhibitors.
Technical Communication UK is the largest event of its type in the UK. The annual conference aims to meet the needs of technical communicators, their managers and clients, from every corner of the industry.
Koala's workshop paper discussed a system developed to provide technical information directly to aircraft flight crew. By leveraging open standards including DITA, XSL-T and CSS, using a combination of commercial off the shelf software and proprietary software written by Koala, single-sourced documentation is created both in printed form as demanded by the regulator, and in the very specialist presentation format required for the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) used by the flight crew while the aircraft is in flight.
Click here to view a video of Gordon's presentation ...
Click here for more about Technical Communication UK ...
August 2010
Security threats from unpatched vulnerabilities in Adobe Acrobat/Reader and Microsoft's Internet Explorer are still common according to recent reports.
Click here for more ...
End of the line for Flash?
ATIEC Conference 2011
Do you have doubts about DITA?
Safety, single sourcing and 'The Law of Primacy'
The time has come - the age of mobile and tablet devices
Koala launches Mobile4docs - a complete solution for display on EFBs and mobile devices
The Blog Archive
navAero's EFB receives EASA STC for A330s
Koala at COM&TEC
Open House event, Italy
Cloud Computing at
Adobe Max 2011
Boeing deliver first 787 Dreamliner
Koala's Gordon Dennis to speak at Future MRO & Ageing Aircraft 2011 Conference
Adobe blog on Flash and warn over HTML5
Cloud-based virtual desktop
for NATS
New Mobile4docs website announced
